Five Times Hollis Mann Wasn't Gibbs's Type And One Time She Was
by heartofawriter28
Summary: Five times someone in Gibbs's life pointed out that Hollis wasn't his type. And one time he put that statement to rest.
1. Kate and Ziva

**I love Kate Todd, Jenny Shepard, and Diane Sterling, so even though a) Kate died long before Hollis showed up and b) parts of this fic are set during periods in which both Kate and Jenny and then Kate, Jenny, AND Diane are dead, I am ignoring their deaths for the simple fact that I love them and I want to. So, there's that. Anyway, please enjoy the five times Hollis Mann wasn't Gibbs's type...and one time she was.**

 **Tag to season 4, episode 7 Sandblast**

It was quiet in the bullpen as Kate glanced up to sneak a peek at her coworkers. Or rather, the one coworker still in the vicinity. Ziva was working quietly at her desk, typing away as she no doubt attempted to find something that would make Gibbs happy whenever he returned from...wherever he'd gone with the blond Army colonel they were sharing the investigation with.

Tony'd disappeared to God knows where, and McGee was likely downstairs helping Abby, so Kate took a chance and set her pen down.

"Ziva." she spoke loud enough for the other woman to hear her but not enough that anyone nearby would. The Israeli woman looked up, tilting her head curiously at her coworker.

"Yes, Kate?" she questioned.

"What do you think of Colonel Mann?" the brunette jumped straight to the point, folding her arms on top of her desk. Ziva's dark brows furrowed as she considered the question.

"I think she is very capable. She works very hard and does not make excuses for mistakes nor does she accept them. She is very much like Gibbs, I believe." she finally answered. "Why?"

The question wasn't necessarily odd, but it sounded more like something Tony would've asked. Though Ziva herself had been thinking about the blonde and the way she and Gibbs acted around each other for awhile.

"I just...it's weird. Gibbs is different around her. He's almost...nice to her. He's never nice to anyone when we have joint investigations, not even Fornell. And they're loosely defined as friends." Kate answered, sounding genuinely confused.

"Perhaps he has a…" the Israeli frowned, doing her best to ensure she got the American colloquialism right. "A thing for her?" Kate made a bit of a face before chuckling a little.

"I don't know. I mean, I know we joked at the crime scene that he'd found his fourth ex-wife, but…"

"But what, Kate?" The gruff voice nearly made the two agents jump, both their heads snapping to the side so their gazes could land on their boss, who was thankfully alone. Or not thankfully. They truly weren't sure whether it would be better or worse if the colonel had been with him.

"I, um, we were just…" the brunette stammered, her face turning red. Gibbs glared darkly at them, even Ziva nearly cowering under the intensity of his gaze.

"We were just discussing your strange behavior around Lieutenant Colonel Mann." Ziva finally answered, deciding there was no point in trying to lie. Kate groaned, dropping her head on top of her folded arms.

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Gibbs barked.

"You're nice to her." Kate replied bluntly, her voice muffled by the fact that her head remained on top of her arms to avoid seeing her boss's expression.

"So I merely...suggested you might have a crush on her." Ziva added, quickly dipping her head to begin writing in a file, a wise decision considering the scowl that colored Gibbs's face.

"I do not have a crush." he snapped. "Don't get crushes."

"Okay." Both women accepted quickly, Kate finally venturing to lift her head. Gibbs continued to glare at them as he made his way to his desk, setting his coffee down much harder than necessary and sitting down.

"She's not really your type anyway." The words were quiet, likely not intended for anyone to hear, but both Gibbs and Ziva heard anyway, the latter's eyes widening as she lifted her head to see how their boss would react.

"What?"

"I just mean…" Kate laughed nervously, as she tended to do in these situations. "She's blonde." Gibbs raised an eyebrow at her, still glaring.

"She has a point, Gibbs." Ziva piped up to help her friend out. "Every woman you have dated since we have known you has been a redhead. And as far as we know, all of your ex-wives have been redheads." Gibbs's scowl deepened, and despite the situation, both women began to fight a laugh at how obvious he was being.

"Don't have a type." he grunted. "Doesn't matter if I did anyway cause I don't have a crush on 'er."

"Who's got a crush?" Kate had to try very hard not to laugh at the consternation on Gibbs's face as soon as Hollis Mann's voice floated across the bullpen.

"Nobody." he growled, downing the last of his coffee and tossing the cup in the trash. He stood, storming out of the area and to the elevator, leaving a slightly bewildered, slightly amused Army Lieutenant Colonel behind.

"What was that all about?" she questioned, looking between the two younger women in the room.

"Oh nothing." Kate smiled, ducking her head to continue her work.

Hollis Mann may not be Gibbs's type...but he most definitely had a crush.


	2. Abby

**Tag to season 4, episode 13 Sharif Returns**

Their second case involving Mamoun Sharif was a stressful one for everyone involved. But one of the few things that offered endless entertainment for Abby Sciuto was the change she saw in her favorite agent, one Leroy Jethro Gibbs, whenever he entered her lab with Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann at his side.

She had noticed small changes during the first case the colonel had worked with them, little things that anyone who didn't know Gibbs well wouldn't have noticed. He wasn't as harsh with her as he would've been with other people. He respected her thoughts and opinions more openly rather than hiding his approval. It was a little weird, or at least Kate and Ziva thought so, but Abby found it amusing to see el jefe so obviously crushing.

It had been a few hours since the two had last been in her office, the last time having provided herself and McGee with a front row seat to their normally brooding, closed off boss offering the blonde a piece of gum. Now, however, it was just herself with them, and while the colonel had stepped around to get a closer look at the large monitor, Gibbs remained at Abby's side, offering the forensic scientist the perfect opportunity to speak to him without the other woman hearing.

 _So, what's the story there?_ She signed to her boss with a grin as she continued to list off what she had found about the case. Gibbs glanced at her with a confused look, or as confused as the man would ever look anyway.

 _What?_ He replied.

 _With the colonel._ Abby clarified, nearly faltering in her explanations to laugh out loud at the scowl that immediately spread across Gibbs's face. _What's the story?_

 _There_ _ **is**_ _no story._ Was his quick, stubborn reply, his hands dropping as Hollis looked over her shoulder at them to ask a question. Abby began to answer, her hands beginning to move as soon as the blonde's attention was back on the monitor.

 _Oh there is_ _ **so**_ _a story._ The glare Gibbs threw her way barely even fazed her, knowing he wasn't really angry, more he was embarrassed at being so obvious and refusing to admit as such. _You've been flirting with her all day._

 _There's not a story, and I don't_ _ **flirt**_ _. Drop it, Abs._

The goth laughed quietly to herself, typing on her keyboard to bring up another image of results she had gotten from the many different tests she'd spent the last few hours running for the team.

 _Okay, okay. She doesn't seem like your type anyway._ The expression his face twisted into was almost comical, and Abby almost decided to take a picture to send to her coworkers before deciding against it.

 _What does that even_ _ **mean**_ _?_ _!_

It was, of course, a running joke between the members of the team that Gibbs was absolutely clueless about anything to do with technology and modern slang, but the fact that he had to ask what having a type meant was one of the funniest things in the world to the young woman.

 _It means you tend to go for redheads, el jefe. The colonel's blonde. So, she's not your type._ She explained with the biggest grin on her face as she answered another one of said blonde's questions about the evidence.

 _I don't have a type._ Abby rolled her eyes, again almost laughing out loud at her boss's words. Maybe he _didn't_ realize how obvious his attraction to Hollis Mann was, and if that were true, the whole situation was just even funnier.

 _Whatever you say, bossman._ She signed just as she finished up relaying everything she'd found and the colonel rejoined them on that side of the equipment. Moments later, and the goth was watching the two walk out of her lab on their way to the elevator, leaving her to laugh to herself.

"So," the blonde began as she pressed the button to call for the elevator. "Did you two have a nice talk about me?" Gibbs glanced over at her, taking in her raised eyebrow and small smirk of amusement.

"Don't know what you're talkin' about." he finally grunted. "Didn't say a word."

"Oh I know you didn't _say_ anything, you hardly ever do." she granted. "And Abby was all talk about the case, but you two aren't as sneaky with your signing as you think you are."

"Who says we were talkin' about you?" It was amusing to see a man who was usually so cool and collected evade a question the way he was.

"Well the fact that you both dropped your hands as though they were on fire as soon as I turned around is a pretty big clue." she teased. He glanced at her again but remained silent, and she smirked, stepping into the elevator once it arrived.

She was _really_ ready to catch Sharif.


	3. Tony and McGee

**Tag to season 4, episode 17 Skeletons**

Very Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo was bored.

It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, particularly when he was at work, but the fact remained that he was bored. Gibbs had gone to check out a lead with Colonel Mann, not that he would ever dare use Gibbs as a target anyway, and Kate and Ziva were checking out one they had found together, which left only McGee as a target for the senior field agent to cure his boredom. So, balling up a spare piece of paper, he tossed it at the other agent's head.

"Tony," McGee groaned in aggravation. "Stop it."

"Can't do that, McGeek." Tony denied immediately. "I'm _bored_."

"Then maybe you should actually do some work." That statement only earned the younger man another ball of paper to the face.

"Or _maybe_ we should talk about the bossman and what's going on with him and _Hollis Mann_." the Italian grinned gleefully, almost like a child.

"Tony, no." McGee shook his head, looking up at his coworker. "If he comes back and hears us talking about that, there's no telling what he'd do to us."

"Come on, McChicken, he's gonna be gone for ages. Don't you find it _interesting_ that he's so weird around her?" McGee looked around, almost as though he were afraid Gibbs would magically appear and headslap them.

"Well yeah." he admitted. "Do _you_ think they started something last time?"

"Come on, McClueless." Tony half scoffed, half laughed. "There's no way."

"What? Why not?"

"She's not a redhead." the senior agent replied in a tone that told McGee he was being stupid.

"What's that got to do with it? I know he likes redheads, but he could like blondes too." McGee argued, abandoning his attempts to find more information about Len Grady.

"Not a chance, Probie." Tony denied, tossing a pen at him and grinning when it bounced off the side of the man's head. "She's not his type."

"People change, Tony." McGee said for the second time that day, sighing. "Maybe he decided he wanted to try something different."

"Something different being Colonel Mann?" Tony nearly snorted, spinning slightly in his chair and nearly falling out of it when he saw the subjects of their conversation staring back at him from the entrance to the bullpen.

"Oh, uh, boss, C-Colonel Mann…" McGee stammered, his face going red as he struggled to think of something, _anything_ , to make this situation better.

"What the hell are you two doin'?" Gibbs barked, his trademark glare in full force.

"Uh, we were just, uh…" Tony laughed a little. "It's a funny thing, really, we were just-"

"Talking about us behind our backs?" Hollis raised an eyebrow, glancing between the two younger men and getting a feeling of deja vu from the last time she'd worked a case with the team and said those exact words.

"We meant no disrespect." McGee was quick to say.

"I'm sure." the blonde dipped her head in acknowledgement, though her tone held the slightest bit of sarcasm.

"That is the _third_ time I've heard those words." Gibbs muttered as he walked to his desk, smacking Tony in the back of the head on his way.

"Heard what words? That we meant no disrespect?" the Italian winced, rubbing the back of his head and half glaring at the amused colonel still standing in the entrance of the bullpen.

"No." his boss grunted as he typed something on his computer before looking up. "That she's...not my type, whatever that means."

"See, McGee!" Tony shouted triumphantly, pointing at the man with a grin. "Other people agree!" Tim's only response was to roll his eyes.

"Who else claims I'm not your type?" Hollis questioned. She wasn't necessarily offended by the statement, merely curious. It wasn't uncommon to meet someone you were attracted to who wasn't generally characterized as "your type".

"Kate, Ziva, and Abby."

"Ah, so _that's_ what you two were talking about that day." she hummed, recalling the sign language conversation she'd witnessed between the man and Abby during their second case involving Mamoun Sharif. Gibbs just grunted once more, apparently refusing to speak any more on the matter.

"Well, Jethro." she prompted after a few moments of nothing but the sounds of the man's keyboard clicks and the elevator dinging filling the area. "What do _you_ think?" He glanced up at her before back at his computer.

"About what?" he asked, steadfastly refusing to admit he knew exactly what she was talking about and almost hoping she'd just let it go.

"Do you think I'm your type?" Just his luck that she would push and all while Tony and McGee were badly pretending they weren't listening to every word.

"Don't have a type." he grunted stubbornly. Hollis rolled her eyes, though the corner of her lips turned up slightly.

"Sure you don't." she humored him, stepping over and picking up the clicker they used for the monitor.

And if she felt his eyes on her as she began to speak, she didn't comment on it.


	4. Ducky

**Reposting this because Delta-6 and Dixie Dewdrop were kind enough to alert me that the formatting got messed up the first time. Thanks guys!**

 **It has been quite awhile since I updated this fic, and I sincerely apologize for that. I fell out of NCIS for a bit, but I was recently brought back in with the discovery of Ms. Jacqueline Sloane, who I am 100% hoping ends up in a relationship with our favorite grump. However, I am still a dedicated Mibbs shipper, and while I am planning a new fic that may or may not involve a meeting between Jack and Hollis, as well as a choice few other exes, I thought I should try to finish this one up first. So, I give you Ducky's chapter. It is a tag to season 5, episode 3, Ex-File. Please forgive me if it's not quite as up to par as the other chapters (not that they were that great to begin with lol), I am a little rusty in writing these lovely characters.**

Doctor Donald Mallard had only seen his longtime friend Leroy Jethro Gibbs in a relationship that he believed to be truly serious a total of three times. One was his first wife, Shannon. Another was his second wife, Diane. And the third was one Jennifer Shepard.

He had never believed that Stephanie Browyn, now Stephanie Browyn Flynn, would last in a relationship with his brooding best friend. And yet, he had attended the wedding, he had been supportive, all the while knowing it would be over within a year or two.

And now, he had watched as the woman's new husband was murdered and she tried to hide her lingering sadness over her marriage to Jethro while simultaneously seeing the man so obviously in a relationship with Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann. A relationship that, according to many of their shared associates, made absolutely no sense.

In a way, Ducky could understand the confusion of his young colleagues. Gibbs and the lieutenant were so much alike, one would think they would constantly be butting heads and fighting. And there were moments when their similarity caused friction, but they were few and far between. More often than not, the two were completely in sync, able to have conversations without saying a word.

"What d'ya got, Duck?"

The sound of his dear friend's voice yanked the doctor from his musings, and he looked up with his usual delighted smile to meet Gibbs' perpetual scowl.

"Jethro! Perfect timing." Ducky immediately began to delve into his findings on their case, his characteristic ramblings being interjected from time to time, but halfway through, he was distracted by a question he hadn't had the foresight to ask as soon as Gibbs had walked through the autopsy doors alone. "Where is your lovely companion?"

"What?" Gibbs asked gruffly, annoyed by the detraction from what he'd traveled to autopsy for.

"Lieutenant Colonel Mann. Where is she? She usually accompanies you when NCIS works jointly with Army CID." If possible, Gibbs' scowl deepened when it became clear his personal life was his friend's new topic.

"She's upstairs goin' over the victim's bank statements with McGee. Now what-"

"You know, Jethro," Ducky interrupted, setting his scalpel down and adjusting his glasses on his nose as he leaned down slightly to continue inspecting the body of their dead Naval officer. "A great many people find your relationship with the lieutenant to be very peculiar."

Gibbs _didn't_ groan, and he would deny to his death that he did. But he simply couldn't understand why _everyone_ seemed so intent on commenting on his relationship with Hollis. He was perfectly happy to stay out of their private lives, so why couldn't they extend the same courtesy to him?

"The case, Duck." he growled, hoping the tone would discourage the M.E. from continuing further in his musings.

But of course, he had no such luck.

"I can certainly see _why_ everyone seems to think you're an odd match, seeing as she's so far from your type-"

"I wish everyone would quit sayin' that." he finally snapped, the words that had been uttered by more than one of his agents every single time Hollis had worked a case with them grating on his nerves.

"Whatever do you mean, Jethro?" Ducky asked, the doctor's tone seemingly perplexed, though he wasn't fooling Gibbs for a second.

"C'mon, don't play dumb, Duck." Gibbs grunted, giving his friend the infamous Gibbs stare. "You know exactly what 'm talkin' about."

"Well, certainly you must have noticed. Colonel Mann shares far more similarities with you personality wise than any other woman you've fancied, not to mention her hair color. Red hair is a defining feature in every one of your ex-wives and each woman you've so much as flirted with since the last wife." All he got in response was a glare before the autopsy doors swished open and the subject of the men's discussion walked in with her usual air of authority.

"Gibbs. We got a lead." Hollis announced, glancing between the two men when she noticed the tension surrounding them. "What's wrong?"

"Nothin'." he answered, turning on his heel to walk purposefully toward the exit. "Let's go."

Hollis threw a worried glance to the aged M.E., staying behind a moment all while knowing Gibbs was probably already at the elevator with no plans to wait for her to follow. "Ducky, what happened?"

"I simply pointed out that many view your relationship as an odd match due to your being so far from Jethro's _type_ as they say." the older man sighed. "I meant no disrespect, of course, you know I think you're very good for him."

"I do." she nodded. "I'm not offended, really. It doesn't bother me."

"Clearly, it bothers him, however." She nodded, thanking the man she had come to consider her friend and accepting the unnecessarily sympathetic pat on her shoulder before hurrying out of autopsy and to the elevator. Sticking her hand between the closing doors, she _just_ managed to slip inside and stand next to the man she still couldn't figure out even after weeks spent in his life.

For a few long moments as they rode up to the bullpen, she remained as silent as he always was. He had already been more closed off than usual since his ex-wife had turned up as part of their case, and common sense told her he would be even less inclined to talk after his conversation with Ducky. However, she never had been able to resist an opportunity to try uncovering a new piece of him, some deeply hidden memory or feeling that made him who he was.

"Why does it bother you so much?" she finally asked, keeping her eyes trained on the elevator doors even as his landed on her. She hoped not looking at him would make him feel more at ease, more open to taking a step toward breaking down the walls he'd built around his heart his entire life and actually _talk_ to her.

She should've known better.

"What?" he asked in that gruff tone she usually loved, making her sigh.

"Nothing." She replied, letting the matter drop as the elevator opened and he stepped out, barking out orders to his team as they all headed out to apprehend their suspect.

Hours later, as she was driving away from his house, tears blurring her vision with the sound of his dead wife and daughter's laughter seared in her mind, she considered that maybe she should've built up some walls of her own.


	5. Jenny and Diane

**Next up, Jenny and Diane! Two of my other favorites from Gibbs' past. Jibbs was actually my first NCIS OTP, and Diane grew on me and ended up becoming one of my favorite Gibbs pairings too, so writing them discussing his relationship with Hollis was kinda fun even though it isn't much. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this loose tag to season 11, episode 12, Kill Chain, and I really hope I've been doing these poor characters justice.**

 _Don't tell me she's another one of your ex-wives._

 _Close enough._

The two women had heard about the exchange through the grapevine, more commonly known as Anthony Dinozzo's big mouth, and from then on had taken extra precautions to observe former Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann and the Marine they all knew on the most intimate of levels.

There were looks, exchanged under the assumption no one could see. Looks that spoke of a longing neither party was willing to act on, especially once it got around that the blonde who had broken Gibbs' heart was now _married_. He had too many morals to cross that line, and she was the same way. Both Jennifer Shepard and Diane Sterling thought that would be the end of it, one rejoining the agents in the bullpen for their investigation into the suspected drone attack and the other relocating to MTAC to run point with SecNav.

Their positions didn't last long once scrap of information number two reached their ears.

Hollis Mann did get married to a trauma surgeon at Walter Reed Hospital. But she was now _divorced_.

"I think you're completely wrong about this." Diane announced from her place on Jenny's office couch. The entire MCRT and Hollis were out in pursuit of suspect Erin Pace, leaving the redheaded IRS agent with very little she could do until they returned. Which was how she found herself spending her time in her former rival's office, gossiping about their mutual ex's personal life.

"I'm telling you, Diane, you didn't see the way he looked at her six years ago." Jenny replied with a sigh, already tired of the conversation. "They were together, I didn't need any kind of confirmation to figure it out."

"Key word there is _were_. They _were_ together. And then what happened, hm? The same thing that _always_ happens. He couldn't get over Shannon. The only difference is, she realized he would never get over her and let her in earlier than the rest of us and left before things went too far."

"That's not entirely true." the director countered, setting her pen down and leaning back in her chair with the resignation that the other woman wasn't going to drop the topic any time soon. "I didn't know anything about Shannon and Kelly when I left. I did it because it was what was best for me and my career."

"Okay so _one_ time he managed not to run a woman off with his commitment issues." ex wife number one waved her hand in response. "It would've happened eventually if you'd stayed. The _point_ is, there's no way they're going to get back together."

"Diane, we can't put our own personal experiences onto _their_ relationship." Jenny told her for the third time since Hollis had shown up and the two women had begun having their discussion.

"Come _on_ , Jennifer." Diane rolled her eyes.

"Come on _what_? You want to dismiss the entire relationship because she's not his type?"

"Who's not whose type, Jen?" Neither woman would ever admit to jumping. But _damn_ could the man move quietly.

"Hollis Mann isn't your type." Diane answered bluntly, far braver than any of his agents. "I'm not even sure how you ended up dating her in the first place."

"None of your damn business, Diane." Gibbs growled, sending her a scathing glare. "Don't you two have anything better to do than gossip about me?"

"It was just a conversation, Jethro." Jenny rolled her eyes. "And it's a valid statement. I'm not disputing that the two of you were together or that you cared for her, but she's not your type. She never was, and even though I knew you _were_ seeing her, it was still pretty puzzling. As long as I've known you, you've only ever dated redheads."

"It was already never going to work out because of your past and your refusal to face and deal with it, but it was even more doomed because of her not being a redhead. People prefer dating within their type, _especially_ men." Diane agreed. Her ex-husband's only response was to roll his eyes.

"Got Pace." he grunted in an attempt to shift the conversation to a less uncomfortable topic for him. He hated discussing his personal life and liked _other people_ discussing his personal life even less, especially when those people were his former flames. Hollis had been a sore subject since the day he'd had to read about her move in the newspaper rather than hearing it directly from her. It had been a rough day for his team when he ended up taking his bad mood out on them.

"Good. I take it you and Agent Mann will be doing the interrogation together?" Jenny asked, taking perhaps a little amusement at the glare she received for even mentioning the blonde again despite her involvement in the case.

"She's already down there waitin'." Gibbs muttered, shifting uncomfortably.

"Well then let's go, Woodchuck." Diane stood up, fixing her blazer and striding toward the door before being stopped by his hand enclosing around her bicep.

"Don't go down there trying to start trouble with 'er, Annie." he warned, making her narrow her eyes at him.

"Oh please. Like I don't have anything better to do than meddle in your love life." she scoffed, yanking her arm out of his grasp.

"Not my love life." he growled.

"Not anymore." Jenny hummed, feeling his glare turn onto her and struggling not to laugh as she pretended to read over a stack of papers on her desk.

Still grumbling under his breath, Gibbs turned on his heel and strode out of her office with Diane following close behind as they traveled down to the observation room. As soon as he pushed the door open, he could tell something was... _off_ about Hollis. She had a glint in her eyes as she glanced from him to Diane and back again, and he wondered for a brief moment if she'd somehow, for some reason, gotten it in her head that something was going on between him and ex-wife number one again. Before he had time to really think on that too much, however, she was all business again.

"Are you ready?" A vague noise of assent was all she got in response, and with that, they stepped out into the hallway and then into the interrogation room where Erin Pace awaited them.

The news of the next drone attack spurred them all into action so fast, he still didn't have time to question her about the glint. McGee and Delilah were in danger, and he had to put his focus on that.

Hours later, when Delilah was safely recovering in the hospital, and the rest of the team was visiting to boost both hers and Tim's morale, Gibbs sat in his basement, not quite admitting to himself he _hoped_ she would stop by but nevertheless knowing he wouldn't object if she did.

It wasn't long before she did, in fact, make an appearance, the sound of her familiar footsteps on the basement stairs a welcome change from the silence resulting in his mind being too distracted to get any woodworking done.

"How's Delilah?" she asked as she descended the last few steps and made her way over to stand next to him at the work table, leaning her hip against the edge as she always had. The sight was almost painfully familiar.

"Wouldn't say good yet, but better." he answered, holding up an empty mason jar in an offering of a drink and grasping his near empty bottle of bourbon when she gave an assenting nod.

"Hopefully she'll continue to get better." She took the jar he handed her, raising it to her lips. Another painfully familiar sight he couldn't quite bring himself to look away from until she gave him a quizzical look. Taking a gulp from his own jar, the usual, almost comforting burn of the alcohol in the back of his throat gave him the push to finally ask the question that had been swirling around his mind for hours.

"What'd ya give me that look for earlier?" Her expression once again took on a confused, questioning nature as she lowered her glass and tilted her head just slightly.

"What look?"

"In the observation room. Ya looked between me and Diane like you thought somethin' was goin' on."

"It's remarkable how well you still know me." she mused, slowly turning the mason jar back and forth in her hands. "I didn't think you'd even notice that look."

"Nothin's goin' on with Diane." he grunted, choosing not to say that no scenario existed where he wouldn't notice everything about her. The way her eyes got brighter when she discovered a new piece of evidence or caused a break in a case. The dimples that appeared on her cheeks when she laughed. The way her lips had quirked up in a ghost of a pained smile when he had told Leon she was close enough to being an ex-wife. Even after so long, every little thing about her caught his attention.

"I know." her soft laugh echoed in the basement, and he felt like it was healing something within him he couldn't identify. "That's not why I looked between you two like that."

"Then why did you?" he asked, confusion coloring his tone. Another chuckle had him even more confused, though he welcomed the sound he had admittedly missed.

"Because...I heard a bit of the conversation you had with her and the director." she answered with another sip of bourbon. "That's two more to add to the list of people who think I'm not your type." He made a face, and it reminded her of every time she'd seen him make the same expression when faced with something that made him feel ill at ease.

All she'd ever wanted from him was a promise to _try_. She didn't need promises of forever he may not be able to keep, whether due to his job or his baggage, she'd simply wanted to know that despite his past and the trauma he'd gone through, he was willing to try to make things work with her. When no signs of such a promise had been immediately forthcoming, she'd decided she would be the one to run away, to save herself the heartbreak she had seen in Stephanie Flynn all those years ago. Now, she was back in his basement, divorced and hoping in a corner of her heart she kept under lock and key that maybe he had finally healed and moved on enough to let her in, even if only as a friend.

"Don't have a type." he grumbled predictably, turning his eyes to his newest project. She recognized the wall for what it was and sighed internally. Clearly six years still wasn't enough to heal the wounds that kept him from loving someone else. Or allowing someone else to love him.

"Right. Of course not." she shook her head, draining the last dregs of bourbon from the jar. "I should get going."

"Hol…" the old nickname falling from his lips in that deep, gravelly tone felt like a knife was twisting in her heart. She waited, once again stupidly hoping he'd open up _just a little_ , but all that came was a resigned expression and sigh. "Take care of yourself, okay? Let yourself be happy."

"I could say the same to you." she replied, leaning forward to press a soft, ghost of a kiss on his cheek. "Goodbye, Jethro."

Walking up those stairs again, she couldn't help but wonder if everyone had been right about them.

 **And there you have it! Only one more chapter to go!**


End file.
